About me

This blogname was derived from the novel The Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby: absurdism as weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. (The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. It could as well be my motto).
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. I started my 'Abu Pessoptimist' blog in January 2009 out of anger during the onslaught in Gaza. The other one, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Armed resistance and the Syrian dilemmas II

A Syrian oil train was derailed by an explosion on 15 January 2012.(SANA)

More food for thought on Syria: Many things have been said about the
Arab League observer mission, but strangely enough the official report
of this mission was not really brought into the open by the League, let
alone by Western powers. Below are some excerpts. And from them it is
not too difficult to grasp why it was suppressed. The picture that arises
from it is rather different from what we were used to read in most
accounts by the press.
Divisions within the Arab League about the
path to be taken must have been the reason why it was kept somewhere in
a drawer - the Saudis who are in favor of taking the toughest possible
line against Assad will hardly have been pleased with its content.
While others, who were aware that it's not only a question of a regime
butchering its subjects but that the situation is more complex, were
inclined to seek ways to find a negotiated solution.
The full report is worth reading - it can be found here.

The excerpts are followed by fragments of an interview that the
Tunisian blog Nawaat held with a Tunisian former member of the observer
force, Ahmed Manaï. He was happy with the Russian- Chinese
veto (it spared Syria the sort of Iraq and Libya), but foremost he is extremely
critical of the way the Arab League handled the matter.

26. In Homs and Dera‘a, the Mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against

Government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, Government forces

responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups

were using flares and armour-piercing projectiles.

27. In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against

Government
forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries.
Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing
eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the

bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two

police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.

28. The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in
several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.
29. The Mission also noted that, according to its teams in the field, the media exaggerated the nature of the
incidents and the number of persons killed in incidents and protests in certain towns.

44. In Homs, a French journalist who worked for the France 2 channel was killed and a Belgian journalist

was
injured. The Government and opposition accused each other of being
responsible for the incident, and both sides issued statements of
condemnation. The Government formed an investigative committee in order
to determine the cause of the incident. It should be noted that Mission
reports from Homs indicate that the French journalist was killed by
opposition mortar shells.

74. In some cities, the Mission sensed the extreme tension, oppression and injustice from which the Syrian

people are suffering. However, the citizens believe the crisis should be resolved peacefully through Arab

mediation alone, without international intervention. Doing so would allow them to live in peace and complete

the reform process and bring about the change they desire. The Mission was informed by the opposition,

particularly in Dar‘a, Homs, Hama and Idlib, that some of its members had taken up arms in response to the

suffering of the Syrian people as a result of the regime’s oppression and tyranny; corruption, which affects all

sectors of society; the use of torture by the security agencies; and human rights violations.

Nawaat: By continuing to work with the Syrian regime and the
divided Syrian opposition, the Arab League seems to believe in a
possible ‘political solution’ to the Syrian crisis, in a way President
Bashar Al-Assad delegates his powers to Vice President to form, within
two months, a government of national unity that would lead the country
to free elections.
The Sino-Russian veto blocks the resolution, what kind of pressure you feel is necessary to get Bashar Al Assad on his knees?

AM: The Arab League is entirely discredited by
burying the report of its own observers’ mission and its appeal to the
Security Council. It missed the opportunity to participate in the
settlement of the Syrian affair. All it can offer in the future will be
worthless.
Now it’s Russia’s turn to play the lead role but also to the Syrian leadership required to accelerate and implement the reforms.

Nawaat: In your opinion, what is the true weight of the CNS
(pro military intervention) and the National Coordinating Committee for
Democratic Change (against intervention and which is rarely we hear from
it in the international media)?

AM: The CNS does not have a good reputation in Syria
precisely because it calls for armed intervention. The Syrians have a
long tradition of patriotism and a high history of resistance to foreign
domination. By cons, abroad, it is a media darling and favorite partner
of politicians, who support and finance.
Besides the CNS does not have representatives inside the country and one of its components, the Kurds, has just left it.
It’s different in the case of the Coordination Committee, because its
representatives are almost all activists within the country, and have no
spokesman abroad, Haytham Manna. It is quite normal that we do not
speak of this Committee in the propaganda and disinformation’s Medias
that support the intervention.

Nawaat: How do you assess the actions taken by deserters from
the Syrian army? Do you have evidence to prove that the Free Syrian
Army (FSA) commits acts of barbarism?

AM: The report of on the Arab observers’ mission
reported the existence of FSA and other armed groups who attack
governmental forces, carry out the abduction of civilians who are
released only against payment of ransom, murder, sabotage oil
facilities, civil buildings, trains and railways…

Nawaat: Last question: can we be for or against the regime of Bashar Al Assad and the Syrian president himself?

AM: Those who believe that the departure of a president would solve
all the problems of the country, are simply idiots. We were unable to
learn from the examples of Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen and agree that the
aftermath of dictatorship are often harder to manage than the
dictatorship itself because oppositions have not yet learned to govern!